Who You'd Be Today
by OrtonsMistress
Summary: What happens when Gibbs and Maddie go through the 'time capsule? Idea was inspired by the season 5 episode Requiem and Kenny Chesney's Who You'd Be Today. *one-shot*


Disclaimer: Anyone you recognize, I do not own. They are all owned by Donald Bellisario.

A/N: I came up with this idea the other day while listening to Kenny Chesney's Who You'd Be Today, on my iPod. I just thought it would fit Gibbs and Maddie from the Season 5 episode, Requiem.

****NCIS****

Gibbs was sitting in his kitchen, staring at the last picture he had taken of Kelly, before he shipped out to Pendleton. She and Maddie were sitting in the backyard on the flowerbed, both with mile wide grins, indicating they had been up to something. He had forgotten all about that moment, until Maddie had given him the picture earlier at her apartment. It had been the first nice, warm sunny day that they had in DC since the bitterness of winter had left, almost as nice as the day was then. Sunny days still seemed to stab him a little more than normal. Kelly had always loved playing outside; helping him or Shannon with the flowers they would plant every year.

There wasn't a day that went by he didn't miss his little girl. Seeing Maddie again, made him think about all the things that Kelly hadn't been able to do. Getting her driver's license, graduating high school and going to college to become whatever she wanted to be.

Tossing the picture lightly onto the table, he got up and grabbed his trowel from the mud porch, and went out to the backyard and to the flower bed. Digging out the rose bush he had planted there, he started to dig more, when he hit the metal of the lunch box. Smiling lightly when he found it, he dug it out of the dirt and went inside. Going down to the basement, he contemplated opening it, when he got a phone call from Maddie. Hearing her desperate pleas for help, he forgot all about the time capsule and raced back over to her apartment.

****NCIS****

Maddie had been sitting alone in her apartment, ever since Gibbs had left. She had surprised herself even, by tracking him down at NCIS, hoping that he would remember her being Kelly's friend. Her own father had died a couple years prior and she didn't have any older brothers. She had always felt like Gibbs looked at her like a second daughter sometimes. Weekends and summers were constantly spent at the Gibbs house; especially leading up to when he was transferred to Camp Pendleton.

She remembered the day vividly that her mom sat her down in the living room to tell her that her best friend, someone that knew all her 'secrets', wasn't coming home. Hearing that Kelly had died in a car wreck with Shannon, shook Maddie to her very core. She asked her mom if they could go to the funeral so she could say good-bye to them, and to see Gibbs to tell him about the time capsule they had buried. When she walked up to him, she remembered that he hugged her tightly to him. Looking back, she couldn't remember why she never told him about the time capsule but she was glad that he knew about it now.

Looking through the rest of the photo album, there were many more pictures of Maddie with friends throughout the years. Finding one of her favorites with Kelly, it was from the Halloween before she died, and they were standing out in front of Kelly's house. Kelly had decided to be a princess and Maddie was Glenda the Good Witch, from Wizard of Oz.

"Kelly, I wish you were still here," she sighed, wondering what she would have done with her life. Would she be going to school to get a veterinarian degree? They had always said they would go away to college together; share a dorm and an apartment. Marry identical twins and live across the street from each other. While they were both dreamers, Kelly always knew what she wanted when she got older; right down to her kids names, Lily and Jacob.

****NCIS****

After getting Maddie away from the two guys that had kidnapped her, trying to find the money the marine had sent over from Iraq, Gibbs had invited her over to open the time capsule. Standing down in the basement and looking at the picture that Maddie had given him of her and Kelly, along with the one Abby had managed to get of him with Maddie that first day; he tossed the pictures down on his work bench-not noticing how they had landed and grabbed up Kelly's old My Little Pony lunch box and headed upstairs.

Hearing a light knock on his front door, he went over and let Maddie inside. "Wow, it's been so long since I've been here, but it still seems the same. Well minus any decorations or anything that Miss Shannon had on the walls," she chuckled; using the old name that Shannon had told the young girl to call her, saying that Mrs. Gibbs made her sound old.

"Yeah, well things change," he replied, as they walked into the kitchen. Sitting down at the table, he slid the box over to Maddie letting her open it up.

"Oh my gosh," she mumbled, having forgotten some of the things she had put in there. Like she had told Gibbs the day they talked about the picture, most of the 'treasures' had been from Kelly, but she had put in a couple of her own. When she came across the friendship bracelets they'd made at summer camp, she could feel the tears springing to her eyes. Seeing a couple other things she put in, she pulled those out as well. "The rest is Kelly's if you want to look at them."

"Yeah," he answered, as he found the dog tags that he had given her, one that had her name on it and another that had 'daddy'. Tracing his fingers over her name lightly, remembering the day he gave those to her. It was right before he had been shipped out to Panama. He gave her the dog tags and told her that whenever she missed him, to hold those and he would be thinking about her too.

Spending almost an hour looking over everything the girls had packed in this box, Maddie took out another copy of the picture she had given Gibbs and tossed it into the box, along with an envelope that simply read 'Friend' on the front. Watching as Gibbs put a few things of Kelly's back into the box, she noticed that he kept out the dog tags. Smiling softly at the memory of what the tags meant to Kelly, they both got up and went out to the backyard to rebury the time capsule.

"It's funny, we always said we'd come unbury this when we graduated from college. I think Kelly had a hand in all of this. Me coming to find you and ask for your help and us talking about the picture you took," she said, looking up at her friends' dad.

"I'm sure she did," he replied with the hint of a smile, thinking about the sort of out of body experience he had when he was stuck in the car under water; the image of Kelly telling him to go back.

"Thanks again for all you did to help me Gibbs," she said, sticking her hands in her coat pockets. "I'm sure those guys would have…." she trailed off, knowing he was thinking the same thing.

"I'm just glad I was able to help," he replied, knowing he hadn't been able to save his own daughter; it meant something to him that he was able to save her friend. He didn't want her mother to have to go through the pain of burying a child, if there was any way he could help it.

"I better get going," she said, as they walked back inside the house so she could get her things. "I hope we can stay in touch now."

Nodding his head lightly, Gibbs didn't say much as he walked her to the front door. "You take care of yourself Maddie," he said, opening the door for her.

"You too Gibbs," she replied, smiling at him faintly before walking out to her car.

Watching her pull away, he went inside and paused just at the edge of the living room. His memories suddenly taking him back to one of the last times Kelly and Maddie had, had a sleepover at the house. They had woken up early on Saturday morning and were in the living room watching cartoons when he walked downstairs. Smiling softly at the memory, he walked toward the basement and in his mind; he could still hear both girls giggling at the TV like they had that morning.


End file.
